


Pure Love

by VioletKnox



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Love, Reader-Insert, healer reader, st mungo's
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 12:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20966399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletKnox/pseuds/VioletKnox
Summary: As Headhealer at St Mungo’s, you are tasked with finding a cure for Troll’s flu, a new virus that has been circulating the country. Struggling with the task, you seek help from you friend and Potions Master Severus Snape. Working closely beside him, you start to realize your feeling for him are more than mutual.





	Pure Love

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request I received on Tumblr. Find me @violet-knox!

Reaching over, you took out a quill and your inkwell, placing them on your office desk. Being the Headhealer at St Mungo’s had its perks of course, but you couldn’t lie, it was quite dull at times. Today was one of those days filled with meaningless paperwork and endless amount of budget planning, each sector of the hospital never seeming to have enough equipment. That was why you were glad to receive a letter from an old friend, not that it surprised you of course. You and Severus had been regular correspondence for quite some time now, and though your friendship was rocky during his Death Eater days, you still found it in your heart to stand by him during his trial, thankful to hear him cleared of his charges. 

Was it crazy to be writing to a former Death Eater? Your coworkers would sure think so. But they didn’t know him like you did. He has a brilliant mind and when it comes down to it, his loyalties would always be good and true. 

You shifted your chair as you pulled one of the drawers to your right, looking for spare paper to write on. Nothing. You could have sworn you’d just restocked, though with the amount of paperwork you’d been doing lately, it shouldn’t have surprised you that you’d run out so quickly. You continued to rummage through your drawers until you finally found something to write on. Writing back to Severus was going to be the highlight of your day, you just knew it, so what would be the harm in dragging out a letter a little longer than you should? Well, perhaps the recipient of your letter might not be too happy, but he’d surely gotten used to your long-winded rants by now. 

You opened your inkwell, dipping your quill into the dark thick liquid, only to find it reaching the bottom. Peering into the small bottle, you sighed and deduced the ink would barely last you a short letter, let alone the essay you were planning to write. 

“Madam (Y/L/N)!” your office door suddenly burst open, revealing your very anxious deputy healer. 

“What is it Bethany?” you asked lazily, placing aside your quill and screwing the inkwell shut. 

“We have a sort of.. Well have you read the Daily Prophet recently?” You arched a brow at her. She can’t be serious? This girl was going to be the death of you. She’d always overreact at every little thing, panicking when in a real emergency. It was beyond you how she’d be able to take over once you stepped down. 

“What does the newspaper have to do with anything?”

“Oh, well, th-they’ve been reporting this-this illness that’s been going around. They call it Troll’s flu,” she appeared so nervous and now you understood why as you had indeed read about this new bug that had been circulating the lower regions of the country. You jolted from your desk and stared at her intently. 

“Don’t tell me…”

“I’m afraid so,” Bethany stood aside, allowing you to rush out of your office, heading to the emergency wing. You could hear her running after you as you quickly burst open the door to reveal a scene you’d prayed you’d never see during your time as a healer in this hospital. 

“Merlin’s beard,” you mumbled under your breath as you gazed upon the dozens of witches and wizards whose skin had all turned various shades of green. Some clearly had a more advanced version of the virus than others as their eyes seemed to have grown three times their usual size. How vulgar. 

Your chest rapidly rose and fell as your heart paced in fear. You had to remain calm, the healers in this hospital had always relied on your leadership and you were not about to disappoint them now. 

“Beth, I need you to separate the severely ill from the rest. Get them their own rooms and lock down the emergency room. We need to put them all in quarantine. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes ma’am.” 

You watched as the young healer made her way to two other staff members, informing them of your orders. Soon enough, you had everyone running around every which way, doing everything you could to at least minimize the damage done to those inflicted of this awful virus. Once the chaos had died down to a minimum, you pulled aside Bethany as well as the Healer-in-Charge of the emergency wing. It was unnerving to find out from them that a cure had not yet been established, which meant it was up to you and your team to do something to ease the pain of your patients. 

Weeks passed and you found yourself struggling to find a solution to this ever-growing dilemma you were in. Though you were able to repress the symptoms of the flu, you hadn’t fully been able to get rid of it as you found your patients back to the agonizing pain they had been in twenty-four hours after administering your potion. Perhaps it was time to ask for a little help. You had to admit that you were quite a prideful person and didn’t enjoy accepting help from others, but it had become quite expensive to brew the amount of potion needed for all your patients every day. 

Letting out a long defeated sigh, you took out some paper and began writing a letter to the best Potions Master you knew. 

Professor Severus Snape, 

I hate to ask this of you, but I’ve been struggling to perfect this potion for the Troll’s flu you no doubt have read about in the newspaper over the last few weeks. I’ve attached my work to this letter and hope you could perhaps find some time to help me perfect it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Headhealer of St Mungo’s, 

Madam (Y/N) (Y/L/N)

You normally never signed or addressed your letters like that, but the contents of this letter was a lot more serious than what you normally had to say to him. You quickly folded up the paper, stuffing it in an envelope with your most recent rendition of your potion before calling your owl from the cage he sat in. Tying your letter to his leg, you told him to find Severus as quickly as he could, and not to return without a reply. You opened the window and watched him fly away, praying he’d return soon. 

Madam (Y/N) (Y/L/N),

I’m surprised it took you this long to write to me. Your attempt at a cure is quite impressive, one I’m sure has gotten a lot further than others. Am I correct to assume the potion simply cures the symptoms for a day or two before completely wearing off? If I am correct, I’d suggest replacing the unicorn’s blood with a small chunk of bezoar instead.

Potions Master of Hogwarts,

Professor Severus Snape

That tease. Of course he had to sign it like that, that cocky little… But perhaps he was on to something. You quickly looked over your notes and made the adjustment before heading to the hospital’s Lab downstairs to brew the new potion. To your delight, you found it helped quite a lot. The potion now lasted 2-3 days depending on how bad of a condition the patient was in, but it still wasn’t enough. It still didn’t cure any of them. You continued owling Severus, but it was just no good. No matter what you did, you couldn’t find the right mix to make the concoction you needed. Perhaps that’s why you were caving and asking the great Potions Master of Hogwarts to come visit the hospital over the Christmas break to help you with your dilemma. 

“Madam (Y/L/N),” a tall, thin man, completely cloaked in black robes stepped through your office door as you looked up from the paperwork on your desk. 

“Please Severus, don’t joke. I’m really stressed,” you put aside your work for now and made your way to the door. Severus scoffed in response, but seemed to understand the amount of pressure you were under as he refrained from making any more snarky remarks on your way to the Lab. You’d only ever see him so serious when brewing potions, though you were thankful he wasn’t so short tempered with you as he was with his students. 

It was quite nerve racking to see him scare his students, you almost felt the need to bud in and defend the poor Gryffindor’s he’d make a habit of attacking. But you knew it wasn’t your place. He’d never storm into your office and tell you how to run the hospital, so what right did you have telling him how to do his job? 

That scary shadow of a man, Hogwarts had grown to know was nowhere to be found as you worked side by side with Severus, doing your best to keep up with him. You admired how precise he was with everything, it was inspiring watching him work. 

“Care for a bite?” you asked as you set aside the potion to seep for a few hours. Severus smirked and nodded as he let you lead the way to the fifth floor. Oh that smirk, you could never get used to it. It made him look so mischievous and.. and desirable. You lowered your gaze as you walked with him to the elevator, hoping he wouldn’t notice your rosy cheeks behind your curtain of hair. You were friends, friends for a long time and even if you admitted to yourself the growing passion you had for the man, there was no way he felt the same. No, you knew he’d always harbored feelings for Lily Potter, even after her death, he never let her go. There was no doubt that he wouldn’t feel anything for you. Not that you felt anything for him. Not like that anyways. 

You suddenly felt slim fingers pressed against the small of your back, causing you to jump, snapping your head back to find Severus almost pressed against you completely. Your eyes widened, wondering what he was doing until you realized he was making way for the unconscious man being levitated out of the elevator surrounded by Bethany and a group of healers. Your shoulders dropped as you felt disappointment wash over you. See, he didn’t care for you like that.

Bethany gave you a polite smile before turning her gaze to the man behind you. You watched as her gleeful expression swapped for a fearful one, causing you to giggle as you stepped inside the elevator. 

“She fears you,” you stated as the doors closed after Severus stepped inside. “Is that why you always dress like a bat? You want your students to fear you?”

Severus scoffed. “I don’t need to dress like this to have them fear me, children are gullible,” he paused, looking down at you as he smirked. “Like that friend of yours,” he said pointing at the doors where Bethany had emerged not two minutes ago. 

You chuckled, glad he was helping you relax a little before you had to get back to worrying over the patients slowly dematerializing in the emergency room. You made your way to the tearoom and told Severus to find some seats while you grabbed a few pastries and two cups of tea. You watched as he put two sugar cubes in his cup with a splash of cream. It only took one sip for him to start coughing as you giggled. 

“You call this tea?!” he exclaimed after pushing away the cup. 

“You get used to it,” you couldn’t stop the smile on your face as you locked eyes with him, taking a small sip of your own cup. 

“You’re bloody insane for drinking that,” he said as he kept his sight on your cup, seemingly ready to attack it as if it posed some sort of threat to you. You rolled your eyes before taking another sip and set down your cup, picking up a scone instead.

“Try this,” you said as you broke it in half and handed him the smaller piece. He eyed you, cautiously looking down at your hand before accepting the sad looking treat. Your fingers brushed and you felt the same tingle shutter through your body you felt earlier at the entrance of the elevator. Stop it. “I swear it’s better than the tea,” you said when you noticed him pausing, examining it closely as if it was laced with poison. 

Severus sighed and leaned back before taking the smallest bite you’d ever seen someone take. You smiled at him as you bit into your own half. He seemed to deem the pastry as acceptable as you watched him take another bite, slightly larger this time. You continued your small talk throughout your break, but you couldn’t get rid of the butterfly growing in your stomach. This was too much to deal with. You couldn’t be thinking about what could or couldn’t be in a situation like that. Your priority was perfecting that potion, not your stupid love life. 

Though you had to admit to yourself, you had definitely grown to care for Severus over the years and the feelings you’ve been getting over the past week, spending every waking hour of the day with him, proved that you cared for him as more than just a friend. 

You sulkingly made your way back to the Lab praying that the twenty-third time’s the charm. Opening the door, you watched Severus immediately make his way to the cooled cauldron on the bench. You made your own way to the shelves and searched for the fire seeds; the last ingredient needed for this new batch. 

You found the jar relatively quickly and noticed that it appeared to be unused for quite some time. You hoped the age of these old ingredients wouldn’t affect the quality of the potion as you attempted to unscrew the lid. It was so tightly done, you could hardly get a good grip on it. Searching for a better hold, you bent your wrist and brought it closer to your chest as you pulled with all your might. It all happened so quickly. The slip of your hand, the shatter of the glass, the burning sensation on your left arm. 

Your hand clasped over the burn on your arm in pain as your knees gave out on you, causing you to crash to the ground. Severus’ reaction was so immediate, you hadn’t even noticed him rushing to his own personal supply bag and grabbing your arm to remove the hand over your injury. 

“Hold still,” he said as you felt a cool jelly like cream smear all over your burn. You did as he said and felt relief as your pain died down. “You have to be more careful when handling Fire Seeds (Y/N)!” His tone wasn’t harsh like you’d expected. He sounded almost concerned and when you looked up and saw his furrowed brows, you realized, he was concerned for you. You’d seen him shout at his student’s when they’d made mistakes worse than the one you’d just performed, and yet he wasn’t yelling at you like he would them. Though you weren’t one of his students, no you were his friend. More than that, you were two halves of a whole. You felt your worries slip away as you lost yourself in his eyes. He helped you up and you felt devastated at the mess you’d made on the floor. 

Severus took out his wand and you watched as the shattered pieces of glass reformed into the jar it had once been. He then levitated the seeds and performed a cleaning spell over them before placing most of them back into the jar. The ones still floating in the air flew over to the cauldron before plooping into the concoction as it steamed and slowly settled. That’s it. The potion was done, and by the look and smell of it, it was seamlessly perfect. Severus then went back to his bag and took out some bandages, gesturing for you to extend your injured arm to him. 

“Are you alright?” he whispered as he gently secured the wrapping in place. You stared at him in awe. He’d been so gentle, so kind, so understanding of you this past week. But why? Unless.. Unless he also cared for you as more than just a friend. You searched his eyes, trying to find something to contradict your new theory. But as he stared back at you, you just couldn’t find anything but care and worry.

Your lips parted in want and before you could stop yourself, you had pressed them to his. You couldn’t tell what he was thinking at first as he’d frozen in place. He wasn’t kissing back, but he wasn’t pushing you away either. You deemed it safe to push your luck as you slid one hand in his hair as the other travelled up his chest. 

“What do you think you’re doing?!” he demanded, suddenly pushing you away. You peered into the angry expression on his face. There it was. The scary professor so many children had grown to fear.

“I-I think my intentions were quite clear,” you said, feeling a fit of anger bubble in your stomach. He pushed you away, rejected you. How could he do that?

“You stupid, ignorant little-” he paused when he saw the hurt in your eyes. You both stared at one another before Severus quickly flung his wand, causing his supplies to go flying back into the bag he’d brought. He quickly left without a second look at you.

Stupid and ignorant. He didn’t just call you stupid and ignorant! You were a lot of things but stupid and ignorant were not one of them! He could have simply said no, he could have simply stopped the kiss rather than making such a dramatic scene. Your thoughts kept drifting back to Severus as you went back to the potion you’d brewed with him. It was finished, and so was your relationship with the only person you’d grown close to over the last few years. 

You could admit when you were wrong, and it was wrong for you to kiss him like that without a certain indication that he felt the same way, but that didn’t excuse the hurtful things he’d said to you. It wasn’t fair. You didn’t deserve to be treated that way and he had to know that.

But once again, your duties as Headhealer took presence over your personal life as you found yourself swamped in work. The potion had worked tremendously and cured the first few patients that received it. Of course, they still had to stay for observation, which in all honesty was quite a hassle as they took up quite a lot of space. The virus had spread quite far, and you found yourself struggling to accommodate for the number of people brought into St. Mungo’s. A part of you used the situation as an excuse to distract yourself, but it was prudent that you quickly gather your team of healers and work throughout the night to brew as much of the potion as you possibly could. 

Unfortunately, gathering ingredients was quite the challenge as you’d already blown your budget on brewing your own failed attempt at the potion. You struggled to convince the ministry of the urgency of your request and fought back the urges to write to a certain Potions Master for help. What good would it do to write to him now? Would he even want to talk to you after what had happened?

No, that’s not what mattered right now. You needed to put all your efforts in training the healers as you did your best to push the ministry into giving you the money needed to administer the cure. You were quite proud of yourself to so quickly receive a letter from the minister himself, informing you that your budget had been extended, and you wasted no time in ordering the supplies you needed. Your healers worked all day and all night, brewing the potion, finally putting an end to the catastrophe that became your hospital. 

You felt bad that Severus wasn’t here to share in the satisfaction of watching the potion successfully do its job. You had to write to him, to at least tell him that the potion worked well and thank him for helping you. Sitting at your desk, you pulled open your drawer and took out a fresh piece of parchment alongside your quill and inkwell. Dipping your writing utensil into the ink a few times, you began to write. 

Severus, 

I thought you should know that the last batch of the potion was a success. Thank you for your help, I couldn’t have done it without you. 

You paused and stared blankly at the page. There was so much room, you could definitely write an essay, especially now that your inkwell was full again. With a stroke of confidence, you decided to continue.

I’m sorry for kissing you. I misinterpreted the situation and thought perhaps you felt the same way I do you. It was my mistake to take such an abrupt action. But that does not excuse what you said to me. You know damn well I am not stupid nor am I ignorant. Perhaps a bit too optimistic yes, but not stupid and not ignorant. 

It was hard to continue writing. Reliving that memory was difficult enough, but knowing you’d lost such a dear friend because you’d been so daring as to kiss him hurt more than anything. You quickly signed it and handed it over to your owl, watching him fly away. That’s it. It’s done. You sent the letter and there was no taking it back now. All you could do now was wait and continue to drown yourself in work in the hopes that it would help you forget what happened. 

And that’s exactly what you did over the next few days as you found the pile of paperwork that had accumulated while you were working in the Lab with Severus slowly vanishing. You’d in fact, almost finished when you heard a small knock on your door. Strange. No one ever knocked like that. If anyone came to you, it would be out of sheer panic.

“Come in,” you said, curiously stretching your neck only to be surprised by the guest that had entered your office. “Severus? What-what are you doing here?”

He stepped inside and closed the door before pulling out a piece of parchment from his robe. “I got your letter.” And you came here instead of writing me back? Was he mad and ready to give you a piece of his mind? He didn’t sound angry. He sounded rather calm again, sad even. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled before looking back up at you. “I’m sorry about what I said,” he took a few steps towards you, the light from your window illuminating his slim figure. “But (Y/N).. why-why did you kiss me?”

You looked back at him as you stood and walked around your desk to face him. “As I said,” you replied, shrugging your shoulders, “I think my intentions were quite clear.” Severus stared at you, clearly seeking for something hidden behind your eyes. 

“(Y/N), I just…” he began, hesitating, clearly unsure about what he wanted to say to you. “I just don’t think it would be a very good idea for me to be seeing anyone.”

“You mean because of your position as a spy for the Order? Or because of your past as a Death Eater?”

Severus looked at you in shook, clearly not expecting the reaction you gave him. Did he expect you to agree with him?

“Sev, I already know all of that, you know this. I know everything about you. I know how you like your tea in the morning, I know you despise Gryffindor, I know you were once a Death Eater, I know you blame yourself for the death of the Potters, I know your patronus is a doe. I know everything about you Severus, so I know exactly what I was signing up for when I kissed you.”

You stopped and took another step towards him. He looked at you and you waited for his reaction, but all you could read on his face was shock. He was clearly taken aback by your words, but the suspense was killing you. You hoped that perhaps your words would persuade him because it was quite clear to you now that he does feel the same way, he just simply wasn’t allowing himself to accept his feelings, just like you had done before your kiss. 

“You deserve better,” he whispered as you took another step towards him. You were only a foot apart now, allowing you to see the sorrow in his heavy eyes. You cautiously placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort, and when you felt him relax under your palm, you let the courage inside you take over once more as your other hand went up to tuck his hair behind his ear. 

“Do you really think such a man exists?” your hand rest on his cheek and you watched as he closed his eyes, leaning into your touch. You smiled at his clear need for affection, glad to give him all the love you knew he’d been missing his whole life. “Because I can’t think of a single person I’ve met more pure than you,” you whispered as he opened his eyes staring back at yours. 

Debating if it would be too much to kiss him, you slowly leaned in, hoping he’d show you some indication of his approval this time. It felt like an eternity would pass as your eyes searched one another, lips parted, waiting for the anticipated moment that seemed would never arrive. Eventually, you felt very familiar long fingers gently slither around your waist as Severus leaned in, closing the distance between you, finally kissing you, beginning the start of a sensational relationship.


End file.
